Electric furnace.



No. 840,481.. PATBNTED JAN. 8, 1907.

L. DION.

ELECTRIC PURNAOE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1906.

A. e. z

ATTORNEY,

i .lo

' Unire sr rriss .arnnr f Prion.

LON DION, OF WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANlA, ASSIGNOR TO T17 E i AMERIOUS ELECTRO-HERMETIO COMPANY, OF WILKES-BARRE,

PENNSYLVANIA. Y

ELEC-mio FusnAcE.-

Patented Jan. 8, 197.

Application tiled Avril 30,1906. Serial No. 314,336.

T @llink/1m t may concer-rt:

Be it known that I, LON DION, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of Wilkes- Barre, in the c ounty of Luzerne and Stato of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Furnaces, of which the following is a specifica# tion.

My invention, while a plicable in whole or 1nl part 'to the various c asses of electric 'furnaces at present in use, is designed more particularly for use in' connection with that class of such devices which are vein )loyed in the fusing of metals and ores, its object being to simplify constructions of' this character and to render ,them more ciiiciont in operation' than been found possible with electric 'furnaces as hercti'ifore in use.

To these ends the invention consists in lcertain peculiarities of construction and coni- -..binatins of parts, which in the embodiment pr. terred by nie will be hereinafter iist described' and Athe novel features oi the invention then pointed out in. the subjoined claims. Referring to the accompanying drawings,

in which my referred forni of cciistruclion is illustrated, `igure 1 is a vertical Alongitudi- -nal section ol" an electric furnace constructed i 1n accordance with my invention with a part of thel feed-hopper broken away for convenience of illustration; Fig. 2, a side elevation thercol` looking toward the lelt inA Fig. 1; Fig. 3,* a horizontal section of the furnace, take-n in the line a' of Fig. l and looking cliownwardyii-nd Fig. 4, a similar horizontal.

ection` of' the. saine, taken in the line 'y g/ ol" uclilfig. 1 and looking: in the saine direction. l, lnall the Aliguies like letters ol" reference are enijpioyed to designate corresponding parts. 'l indicates a chamber which is inelosed 'l withini suitable side walls c., lorinedrom 1" iason`,ry orpotberwise, and receives what l` allhcrcin a lcrucible l. in weich the tusof the orcs or other su anees is ell'ected. -lin the, construction of this chamber Anny ippropriate contourma); oe adopted, :ind t Ve sameis also true respecting; the crucible butwhatever their loi-ins the crueible will preferably be of a dimension somewhat less Vthan the interior of the chamber A, whereby l tip forni a s )ace between them-io allow of the l efscape of t ie fumes, gases, or other vapors which arise from the fusion of the ores or other substances and from the molten metal or metals, and the chamber will or maybe provided in its walls with a door a', through which access to its interior may be had when desired. With the Crucible thus arranged within the chamber A. it is connected at its top with a hopper or receptacle O through the intervention ot a chutcway b and is constructed with a contracted lower chamber portion or reservoir b i'n its lower portion which is preferabl)r provided with an outlet-pipev b2, that extends therefrom to and outward through the walls ay or' the furnace and to the outside. tliereof ,whcre it is or may be equipped with suitable iippliances--such, for instance, as a plug lf3- why means of which the opening and closing:v of the assage-.way nia-y be effected when required.

Extending` inward from o posite directions thro ugh the walls of bot the chamber A and the crucible B, with their inner ends in. close relationship, but at a short distance apart, arey the electrodes '1), by means of which the current or currents of electricity to i use the ores or other substances is orare aplied. These electrodes may be of Various 'lorms ln the embodiment of the invention,

a width to extend entirely across the interior ol" the cirucible B or of awidth that will extend. but iartially across. In the drawings,

width to extend but partially across, with the upper surface, of each provided with a longitudinallydisposed shallow concave groove c, as shown, and the same form of construction may be adopted when these tirely across the interior of the crucible B oi otherwise, as maybe preferred.

, When the eleetrode'is inadeo'f a width to Crucible., then but a single positive and 9; Singie negative. electrode in each set'will be re- `quired. On the other hand, when tlie'electrode is ol' a width to'extend but artially across then a nuinber ol positive an anuniber ol" negative electrodes will be required in 8o lugnrever which I have selected for purpose of illustration they are constructed in the torni of plates, which maiT be .made either of however, have shown thein as inade of a electrodes are made of a width to extend en# v extend entirely across the interior of the each set, in which case the electrodes of each `live oll sui-h electrodes as thus arranged.`

This, however, is merely illustrative, and a greater or lesser 'number may be einphrveil.

or a greater number in one set and a lesser nuinbeiiii the next may be made use ol, and in l"ig. 2 l have shown this latter arrangement adopted, in w-liieh sets ol live ol' these eleetrodes in eaeh polarity ai'e shown as alternated with sets ol l'our.

lnvsoiiie iiistzinees but two sets ol' eleetrodes l) will vbe required. ln `others three oi' more sets will be necessary, aiul iii the drawings l have shown l'our setsas thus employed; I

but whatever the number ol' sets thus made use olfinay be they ai'e preferably disposed the one above the other, whereby to a t sueeessively upon the ores or other substanees supplied to the erueible, and in siieli 'eases the constituent members olA one set may be variously arranged with respeet to the eonstituent members ol"tlie other set or sets. l prefer, liowevei,'to arrange the eonstituent members` ol` the dill'ei'eiit'sets in quineunx order. with the longitudinal eeiiteis otl the ineinbeis ol' one set in line with and above the spares between the members ot the other, whereby to prevent any olA the ores or other substanees supplied to the erueible l) passing downward between the eleetrodes l without being brought. in direet eontai't with the members ol. one 'or the other ol' the sets @"s thusarraiigezl the eleetrodes l) are eonnei-teal with any approi'iiiate souree oll eleetrie siipplyiflas, lor instant-e, with a d viiaiiio or dynaiiios (not shown) through the interwhieh may beso disposed that the positive or -1- electrodes ol all thesets may be. on one side oll t he l'urinire and the iiegat ive or eleetroiles ol' all the sets on the other. ln the drawings, however, l have shown these elee trorles as so eoiiiierted with the souree ol' eleetrie supply that the positi-ve aiul negative members ol' the dill'ereiit sets alternatewith oii'e anotheron eaeh side ol the l'iiriiaee, willi,

say, the negative eleetroiles ol' the upper set,-

'amore ellieieiit operation ol" the l'iii'iia-ee isy insured than when all the positive eleetrodes are arranged on one side and all the negative eleetrodes on the other,

Wit li the eleetrode-r arranged and connected as`tliiis explained and Van eleetrie ein-rent or eurrents veiitioii ol' suitable eoiidiietois r/ and d,

appropriate passed through lprovided,

them, the ores or other substances supnlied l'roni the hopper or reeeptaele (l throug i the ehuteway l will be delivered upon the upper e 'surlaee ol' the inner ends ol the upper set of eleetrodes. and alter having been lused or highly heated by the eurreiit passing through them will pass downward between their inner ends to and upon the upper surlaee ol the next lower set, where the saine operation will be repeated, and so on. the ores or other substances passing downward ,upon and between the respertive positivx and negative members of the sueeeeding sets, with the result that the ores or other iiiate'ials passing i'lowiiward between the succeeding sets will be l'used and linally l'all into the eontraeted lower elniniber portioiibQ from whieh il may be drawn through the i'iiitlet-pipe li" li vwitli drawing the plug li, as will he readily understood.

For holding the eleet i'odes in pla-ee various means may be employed. .l prel'er, however, to malte use ol' holders (['f l'or the purpose -and 4to eonst'i-uety theni.with passageways d, extending through theiii, through whieh the eleetriides may be led and-iii which they are held and to ser-ine these holders to the walls a ot the furiiaee iii any appropriate manner--'a.s, l'oi iiistanee, by sei'ews it, with suitable linsulating-strips d interposed between the l'aees oll the holders and the walls, as shown.

As thus l'ar i'ieseribed the eonstruotion ol' the parts is sueh that the ores or other substanees supplied to the erueible B will lall u )on the upper surl'aee oll the upper lsets ol' eieetrodes without being eonlined to any pai'- tieular portion thereol', and suefh an arrangement will be. tfound useful with some ol the less rel'raetoiy materials. When, however, the more refractory kinds ol" ores or other substances are being treated, it is louiid more desirable and eeonomieal to eonline the eontaet wit li tlieveleotlrodes to areas nearer their inner approaeliing extremities. To this end the eiueible B is or may be provided on lits interior a short distant-e above eaeh ol' they set s ol' electrodes with an. inwardly and downwardly extenanig flange b4, by whieli means the ores or ot lier material supplied to the erueible aie delleeted inward toward its eentei and eaused to fall upontlie electrodes at the points ol their nearest approach, where the heat lroin the eleetiie eurientl is the most intense, while beneath eaeh ol: these llaiiges t1* are l'oiined through the walls oll the orueible a series ol apertures or orifices lf, through whieh the l'unies, gases,A or vapors arising lifoin the tusiiigol" the ores or other substanties and l'i'oiii the molten. metal or metals may esea'pe into tho space between the erueible and the walls a of the turnaee, whenee thefwill pass Upward and outward through a suitable which the furnace is passage-way a, with and are then-ee delivered to conby'whichvthe metal or metals contained in `them are recovered'or otherwise.

Ii'i someinstances and with some kinds of vores or other materials thc operation loll the furnace may be continuous and such ores or other materials supplied to the hopper or reccptacle C passed downward continuously through the chuteway tothe bowl or crucible B, Where it is subjected to f ne action of the electric currentv passing thw gh the electrodes, and in such cases the chuteway t will remain open and unobstructed, as shown by full lines-in Fig. l. In other cases, on the other hand, as where some of the more refractory and valuable ores or other materials are being treated, the ores or other materials instead of being supplied to the bowl or crucible in a continuous stream will be supplied thereto intermittingly in 'measured quantities, whereby to prevent the escape and loss ofany of the fumes, vapors, or gases upward through the chuteway and in these cases provisions are made to thus open and close SiO the chutewa at ro 3er time to res ie'ctivelv permit ot the passage oi' the successive quantities therethroueh and the closino' of the same.A The means by which this 'opening and closing of the chuteway may be effected may be of various kinds. In the form of` the invention which I have adopted for the purpose of illustration, however, it consists of a kdoor or gate a?, which is fitted to slide Vback and forth across the chuteway, as shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 1.

I/Vith the parts constructed .and arranged as above set forth an electric furnace is produced which. is possessed of great simplicity and which owing tothe multiplicity of heat ing-points and the manner in which the ores or other substances to be treated are handled is extremely easy of and efficient in operation and capable of fusing or otherwise treating the most refractory of them.

I/Vhile in the foregoing I have described the best means contemplated by me for carrying my invention into practice, it is obvious that various changes and modification maybe made in its various parts without ,changing its mode of operation and departing from its essential spirit and scope.

I laving now described my invention and specified certain of the Ways in which it is or may be carried into effect, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesi the hopper or receptacle wit-h the crucible; a

plurality of sets of electrodes extending inward through the walls of both the fiirnae- 6.5 chamber and the crucible and adapted to be connected with a source of electric supply, with such sets of electrodes disposed the one beneath the other, substantially as described.`

2. The combination, with a furnace-cham- 7o ber provided with a passage-way at its upper end, anda hopper or receptacle, of a crucible arranged in such chamber and provided with a contracted chamber portion oi' reservoir at its lower end, with a number of inwardly and 7 5 downwardly extending` flanges disposed upon its interior, with apertures beneath them, a chuteway for connect-ing the hopper or receptacle with the crucible, and a plurality of sets of electrodes extei `ling inward through 8o the walls ol'- both the `furnace-chamber and crucible and adapted to be connected with a source of electric supply, with such sets of electrodes disposed the one beneath the other, substantially as described. y

3'. The combination, with a furnace-chamber provided with a assage--way at its upper end, and a hopper or receptacle, of a crucible arranged in such chamber and provided with contracted chamber port-ion or reservoir in 9o its lower end, -Wit-h means for withdrawing the contents of the chamber or reservoir, with a number of inwardly and downwardly extending flanges disposed upon its'interior, andwith apertures beneath them, -a chute- 95 Way for connecting the hopper or receptacle with the crucible, means for opening and closing such chuteway, and a plurality, of sets of electrodes extending inward through W the walls of both the furnace-chamber and ioo the crucible beneath the flanges and adapted to-be connected with a source of electric sulpply, with such sets of electrodes disposed t e one beneath the other, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I f have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of April, 1906.

LON DION.

-Witnessesz v WILLIAM C. ALLAN,

CHARLES A. DRANT. 

